Peter and Gwen's: Web of Letters
by Alex332393
Summary: A twenty-six chapter long fan fiction that stars Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, with the titles of each chapter ultimately deciding their fate (hehehe...) Join them as they weave through a web of letters of love, pain, angst, awkwardness (courtesy of P. Parker) and a whole lot more! Don't worry when this hits Chap 26, I got another story in the works, drabbles and whatnot :)
1. A is for Appetite

Peter and Gwen's:  
Web of Letters

A is for Appetite

Gwen knew that as part spider, Peter would be in need of large amounts of food at certain periods of time (eg; whenever he wasn't trying to get himself killed). I mean, spiders _will_ eat a LOT of food whenever there was an abundance of it and they can also go a long time without it without suffering from any ill side-effects.

But that's not the point.

The point is that Gwen Stacy had no idea exactly _how _much Peter Parker ate on a spider-basis, but that changed the day Mrs. Stacy had invited the bugboy to dinner.  
No, it wasn't Branzino that time around (which Peter was more than thankful for) but crab instead - which he wasn't so thankful for. He had had a hunch that the Stacys were testing his capability of prying open seafood that needed at least three rounds of prying-open experience.  
So there the Stacys were, sitting around their oval dining table amusing themselves with the 'Parker boy'- as Gwen's mum had put it - as he tried to dissect the red crab that lay on his dinner plate. Peter wasn't oblivious to their giggles, but he wasn't offended. He knew that they needed a bit of cheering up, even if it _was _at his expense.  
Eventually, Mrs. Stacy had Simon help the bugboy with his food and the whole table smiled when Peter sighed a sigh of relief.  
After dinner, Mrs. Stacy announced that she - conveniently as Peter put it - had a late shift for work and said it was one of the reasons she had invited him over for dinner, asking Peter if he could help Gwen watch the boys, to which he only happily obliged.  
After that, Mrs. Stacy said her goodnights to the troop and made for the door. When she was about to close the door, Peter nearly engulfed Gwen in his arms, but his spider-senses told him otherwise. Mrs. Stacy suddenly turned around and, slightly poking her head in the room, said a sentence that could bring down even the Amazing Spiderman.

"Don't get up to anything funny OK?"

What ensued were fits of giggles from the three amigos and two beet-red faces.

After Gwen shushed her brothers and convinced them to watch TV and just mind their own business, she coerced Peter into doing the dishes while she continued her 'chemistry homework'.

"Hey Gwen, can I get something from your fridge?", Peter called out to the disappearing figure going down the hallway.

The only reply he got was a wave of her left hand.

_**TASM**_

Gwen lay propped up by her elbows on her bed, belly side down, feet folded together in the air so as to save her head and her pillows from, well, whatever her feet would leave behind if she_ did _put her feet on the pillows. What lay before her wasn't a textbook or any chemistry homework, but rather a novel her English teacher had lent to the whole class to read for their upcoming topic which was about authors - and their books - in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The novel was titled _Jane Eyre_, and when Gwen showed her mother the book she gave the younger Stacy a confused look.

"I never really understood that book", she said.

Gwen on the contrary, _did _- albeit sort-of - understood what she read, and was so engrossed by it that she didn't hear the slightly muffled sound of boisterous cars driven by angry New Yorkers honking their horns outside her window, or the rhythmic sound of feet as they walked down the hallway getting ever closer to her slightly ajar door.

_**TASM**_

Peter sighed as he harshly scrubbed an area of the crab stained plate he held in his hand over the sink, trying to scrub an uncooperating stain away. Mentally cursing the plate, he tried again...and again and again, but to no avail. The teen was so focused on trying to disintegrate the stain that even his spider-senses didn't notice Howard, the eldest Stacy brother, walk in the kitchen. Okay so his spider-senses _did _alert the bugboy of the Stacy's prescence, but he ignored it thinking he was only going to retrieve a snack from the fridge.

"Need some help?", the young teen asked.

Looking over his shoulder, he smiled sheepishly and asked, "You done this before?"

Howard's nod was all Peter needed to see to wash his hands and leave the sink. He headed for the fridge in the hopes to find bounty, and what he saw was promising. Peter began to grab this and that from the fridge from items like leftover bacon and eggs, a couple of slices of salami, two whole doughnuts, you get the picture. However, he made a mental note not to take _too _much, so he only took one doughnut. When he was finished gatthering his loot, he set it on the kitchen bench adjacent to the fridge before closing the fridge door. Gathering his belongings once more, he headed for the only place he ever wanted to be, but Howard's sudden question caused him to abruptly stop, nearly dropping the pancakes in the process.

"Did you design your own webs?"

Peter turned to look at Howard, and the latter grinned at the former's 'deer-caught-in-headlights' expression.

"H-how did you? W-who?", Peter stuttered, "Whaaat?"

"Gwen", was the Stacy's simple reply.

Peter gulped, "D-did she tell your other brothers?"

"Nope, just me. Apparently I was 'mature enough'", Howard made bunny fingers (or whatever they're called), "to know about, well, you."

Judging by Peter's face, Howard concluded that he was still shocked, and probably worried, which also worried Howard since he looked up to the red and blue hero. Even if he _did _wear spandex.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone", he assured the older teen, "I-I promise", he added for good measure.

At that, Peter's face softened into a smile, "Thanks bud", he nodded to Howard, who only grinned back, "And yeah, I developed the webbing myself. But I get the actual webs from OsCorp, seeing as they don't have much use for it anymore", Peter grinned.

With that, Peter exited the scene and headed for the one out of two places in the Stacy's house he really liked, the other being the kitchen (or more precisely, the fridge). But before he disappeared completely into the hallway, the young teen called out some words that further brightened Peter's conscience.

"That's pretty amazing."

Peter stopped again - this time not so abruptly - then continued on his merry way down the hall, knowing full well that Howard was more than capable of taking care of his two younger brothers. Somehow - with help from his spider-senses of course - he sensed that it was the start of a long-lasting brotherhood.

He also sensed that the eldest would alert him and Gwen when their mother was just about to pass the doorman.

_**TASM**_

Gwen was up to chapeter twenty-eight - she had read most of it at school - of _Jane Eyre_ when Peter walked into her room.

Well, more like ninja'd his way into her domain with the stealth of a thousand tiny house-spiders.

So there Gwen Stacy was, lying on her bed, completely captivated by a nineteenth century novel her English teacher had handed out, while Peter Parker - who was also known to some as (aktsa) Spiderman - sat on a comfy chair placed diagonally across the bed, munching on his second piece of slightly frozen pancake, watching his girlfriend like hounddog.

This exercise lasted for about a whole ten minutes; the time it took Gwen to finish the last remaining chapters of her novel. She didn't notice straight away that her 'bugboy' had been watching her the whole time, but rather buried her face into her bed sheets, mumbling about what a 'weird yet wonderful' book it was. It nearly made Peter laugh, nearly, but what happened after was so comical it caused him to roar with laughter at the - unfortunate - expense of Gwen.

When the Stacy finally sat up, only then did she listen to what her nose was telling her. Sharply turning her head to the origins of the scent, she shouted 'ah!' in surprise and fell backwards, landing on the floor with a distinctive 'thud!'.

As was foretold, Peter roared with laughter, nearly choking on the last strip of bacon he was munching on. But being the gentle-spider that he was, he got up, put whatever food he had left on his chair and walked over to help Gwen up.

Well, more like lifted her up off of the floor and - gently - placed her on the bed when she didn't cooperate and instead growling at him to 'go away'. When Peter sat next to her, leaning closer to her face and 'scanning' for any bruises, Gwen pushed his head away, trying not to grin in the process.

"I hate you, you know that?", Gwen said in the most serious voice she could muster, but she knew that when she said 'hate' a sliver of a laugh slipped from her tounge.

"Yeah I know. But you love me too much to do that", Peter countered, grinning widely at the blonde.

Gwen looked at him oddly, her eyes slightly scrunching up, "That doesn't even make sense."

"Girls don't make sense."

Gwen raised an eyebrow, "Your point?", she asked, a question which Peter only shrugged at.

The two stared at each other for a moment, like they did all those days ago when Peter came tumbling through her window with three large gashes across his chest. Peter lifted his hand to her cheek, and - just like what happened last time - Gwen put a hand on his forearm and the other on the back of his hand.

"Hey Peter", Gwen murmured.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

This brought a wide smile to Peter's face, "Yeah. I love you too. Just please, no dare for next week (it was Sunday). I _still _haven't gotten over that last one."

Gwen laughed at the memory of Peter wearing a pink, frilly apron at the bake sale the school had on the previous Friday. He even had a pink oven mitt with love hearts printed all over it as the school had 'run out of normal oven mitts'.

"I'm sure that image was etched into the minds of those people who bought cookies", Gwen laughed again, a sign that she enjoyed the whole ordeal, "I mean, I know you're a nice guy, but who knew you'd be willing to put on a pink suit for the school?"

"Ahem, may I remind you that you were the one who forced me to wear it", Peter accused.

"Forced?", Gwen innocently put a finger to her chin.

"Yeah, under the threat that you'd reveal that I'm Spiderman", the bugboy pointed out.

"Whatever. They wouldn't have believed me anyway", Gwen shrugged, trying once more not to grin.

"I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult."

"Yeah, me neither."

Peter shook his head, "You're impossible, you know that?"

"Compliment accepted."

At that, Peter leaned in for a kiss, and Gwen nearly allowed him to when something caught her eye. She placed a hand on Peter's chest to let him know to stop.

"What? What is it?", Peter asked , a hint of annoyance evident in his voice.

"What's all that food doing there?"

Peter looked behind him and 'oh'd'.

"That, Gwen, is most likely half of what was in your refrigerator. Well, _half_, of half of what was in your fridge. Not all of them though. Some of those were from your pantry. And from that little cupboard above the sink. And from that bowl of fruit. Yeah, I think that's it."

"You eat _that _much?", Gwen asked incredulously, staring wide-eyed at amount of the food sitting - neatly arranged, Gwen noted - on her chair.

"Pretty much."

"Do you usually eat this much?"

"No, not really. I usually eat half of that whole thing there, but I havn't a proper meal in a while so I thought, hey, I'm at Gwen's house-"

"-I'm gonna eat their whole kitchen", Gwen said sarcastically.

"Well, not the _whole _kitchen- Ow!", Peter yelped when Gwen pinched him on the arm, "Okay, okay, I'll stop with the jokes...for now."

Peter - grinning - lifted his hands in defense when Gwen gave him the 'Stacy look' as he called it.

When Gwen only snickered at him, Peter dropped his hands and leaned in for another kiss. But alas, the universe had other plans, because just as their lips met, the one and only Howard Stacy slammed the door to Gwen's room wide open.

"Hey you two mom's coming- oh, um sorry", the Stacy stumbled over his words and looked away after he saw the - very romantic as a thirteen year old would've probably described it - scene in front of him.

"Howard! What did I tell you about knocking first? _Knocking_ first!", Gwen scolded.

"But mom's coming", Howard answered in a near-whiny voice that Gwen recognized as the one he used between - what she thought were - the ages of two to twelve. Turns out, he _still _whined, and that annoyed the Stacy's only sister greatly.

Peter laughed at Gwen's obvious irritation, "Thank's bud", he said and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

Howard saluted then quickly left the room after he heard Simon's distinctive cry for help.

"Bud?", Gwen asked.

"Yeah", Peter said as he got up and picked up all the food he left on the chair, "Appparently, through some sources, Howard knows that I'm Spiderman."

Gwen smiled sheepishly, "If you want we could brainwash him", she said in that joking yet serious voice Peter had come to know and absolutely adore. Even when she used it on him.

"Nah, that'd be cruel", Peter replied just as seriously, "Better he knew anyway, I mean, I _am _his second greatest hero", Peter spoke the last part softly, and Gwen only smiled.

"Now", the bugboy said as he got up and stretched out his hand to help Gwen up and off the bed, "Let's get out of here before your mom sees us."

Gwen nodded and left her room after seeing that Peter was stashing his leftover food on the fire escape outside her bedroom window, which meant that he'd most likely come back for it _and _her.

Now _that_ was something she _definitely _looked forward to.

When Peter was one-hundred and one percent sure that no crumbs would attract any unwanted pigeons, he quickly ran out of Gwen's room, closed the door behind him and jumped onto the nearest couch in the living room (where Gwen was also sitting). For good measure, he messed the couch up a bit to make it seem as if they were sitting there the whole time, the whole thing making Gwen giggle at his carefulness. Then, Peter beckoned for Gwen to sit closer to him and - once she was close enough - he engulfed her in his arms so that her head rested on the crook of his neck. He pressed his lips to her forehead then rested his own head on hers, and act which made Howard give them a snort. Gwen replied by poking her tounge at him and saying that one day he'd be 'bitten' too.

Finally, after the whole room settled and before Peter could get pulled into the TV world where the highly irritating thing called reality was a good million universes away, Gwen murmured something only he could possibly hear.

"I still can't believe you can eat that much", she mused and laughed more when she felt Peter's throat vibrate slightly while he laughed.

Shortly after that, the sound of keys rattling in the keyhole - percievable only by Peter - announced - only to him - that Mrs. Stacy was home, and that Peter had _just _avoided banishment from the Stacy's territory, even it the command was spoken indirectly.

But that didn't really matter. He always had the fire escape.


	2. B is for Birthday

Peter and Gwen's:  
Web of Letters

B is for Birthday

This was it, she was done for if she couldn't find that parcel. As she searched, her movements were frantic. Her hands scrambled through drawers, cabinets, under the bed, you name it she's ravaged through it like a hurricane. She had frisked the entire area as messily (is that a word?) as two police officers would do when searching for narcotics (the only difference was that, even though she was a 'police officer', she had to clean the whole room herself, whereas _real _police officers left the cleaning to the residents).

"Arghhh", growled an irritated Gwen Stacy, "I give up", and with that plopped onto her bed.

It was Peter's birthday that Saturday, and Gwen had put together a marvelous present the week _before_, toiled for another day trying to find red and blue wrapping paper that closely matched his suit, toiled _another_ two days - this time on the internet - to find some tips on how to (expertly/creatively) wrap a present, and now it was gone. All five days of hard work and two days of hiding it, completely gone.

"That Simon", she muttered into her bedsheets, "I should've just handed him over to Howard..."

She would've interrogated her younger brother, but just as she was about to approach him, her mother announced that she and the three amigos were going to the grocery store to stock up on food.

"It's strange, I don't remember letting you three ravage the kitchen...", Mrs. Stacy said out loud.

It was then and there that Gwen ran to her room, grabbed twenty from her bank jar and a piece of paper and raced back to the door where Howard was just about to close the door.

"Howard!", Gwen called out, stopping the young teen just before he closed the door.

She handed him the fifteen dollars and the piece of paper. When Howard took the paper, he smiled.

"'Food Peter Likes'?", he asked, obviously amused by the list's title.

Gwen rolled her eyes and pushed Howard out the door, "Just get it for me will you? I suspect our dear youngest brother Simon has toyed with my present for Peter and I need something to make up for it in case I don't find it before he comes over."

Howard's mouth 'oh'd' and he gave her a thumbs up, "Gotcha."

Gwen watched as he walked down the hall towards the elevator and thanked God that she had a thirteen year old brother she could order around.

"Oh, get some Ferrero for me! And make sure Phillip and Simon don't see it!", she shouted down the hall.

All she saw was Howard's wide smile and another thumbs up.

_**TASM**_

Now, you may be wondering how on earth Howard was going to buy the items on Gwen's list without his mother questioning his list (especially with a title like that). Yes, Mrs. Stacy knew - albeit very little - about Peter Parker and Spiderman being one and the same, but he couldn't really tell her that that same bugboy was the one who also raided their food stock whenever his spider-appetite kicked in. It would only put things on an awkward level between the mother and the hero.

So, as the ever cunning mastermind that he was (well, on monopoly anyway) he hatched a plan on the car ride to the grocery store.

'Risky', he thought, 'But mom-proof.'

Howard's plan went into motion the moment he took his two brothers with him to the 'kids area.'

"Phillip, stay here with Simon", he instructed the middle brother, "I need to buy some special groceries", he added when he saw Phillip's mouth move to - what Howard correctly assumed - protest.

At the words 'special goceries' (a term only rarely used) Phillip grinned.

"Can you get me a snicker bar?", he asked.

"Maybe, Gwen only gave me twenty."

Phillip nodded and turned to Simon, which Howard took as his cue to leave. He hurried along the various aisles until he found the confectionary section. There he grabbed a pack of Oreos and two bags of two different kinds of chips. He then moved on to the fridges and was just about to walk towards the milk when he saw his mother at the end of the aisle staring inside one of the refrigerators. He quickly backtracked and stayed hidden for five seconds before peering into the aisle again. He sighed in relief when he saw his mother leave the aisle in the opposite direction, and then ran for the milk, grabbing a gallon of chocolate milk.  
Stopping for a moment, Howard calculated how much money he had left, not including the items he held.

"Eleven fifty", the teen muttered under his breath, "Better get Gwen's Ferrero."

Get Gwen's Ferrero he did, along with whatever else he could buy with the money he had left to spend on Gwen's list.  
When he made his way to the end of the aisle that was closest to the check-out counters, he looked around scanning the area for his mother. He spotted her at the thirteenth aisle down, his pupils slightly dilating at the amount of food she had on the check out bench.

"Pete really _does_ eat that much", he whispered to himself in disbelief.

Once he snapped out of his temporary 'wow-that's-how-much-he-eats' reverie, Howard raced to the kid's area, grabbed Phillip and Simon and led them to the nearest and most empty check-out counter. Confident that he would finish getting his items bagged before his mum did, Howard intstructed Phillip to take Simon and stand beside the vending machine that stood against the wall. Five minutes later, Howard handed the twenty dollar note, recieved some change and grabbed the plastic bag from the plastic bag bay.

"Distract her", Howard huffed and walked towards check-out thirteen, hiding the plastic bag behind his back.

When they got there, the trio waved hello to their mom and - as Howard instructed - Phillip and Simon distracted their mother while he put his plastic bag in with the rest of the others on the bag bay without anyone noticing.

On the car ride home, the atmosphere was jovial, much to Mrs. Stacy's confusion.

_**TASM**_

It was around two in the afternoon when the grocery ninjas had come back from their mission. Once Mrs. Stacy left the house to retrieve the remaining plastic bags in the car, the boys raced to Gwen's room and Howard - remembering Gwen's request - knocked on the door. Furiously.  
The young teen grinned when he heard his sister's irritated voice and stepped away from the door when he heard her footsteps getting closer towards him. When the door opened, Gwen popped her head out.

"Did you _really _have to do that?", the blonde asked, clearly annoyed with her brother's antics.

Howard merely shrugged, then handed her the plastic bag, "Oh, and a dollar fifty left over", he added and stretched out his open palm which contained the change.

Gwen smiled and ruffled Simon's hair after she gave him the last Ferrero, "Keep it Howrad, high time you started a bank of your own."

Feeling that it was too much affection for one day, Gwen shooed them away and closed the door to her room, but not without smiling fondly at the figures racing down the hallway, the living room their obvious destination.

"Alrighty Gwen, time to wrap all this up", the teen muttered to herself.

_**TASM**_

Strangely, Aunt May was asleep at nine o'clock that night, her normal bedtime usually an hour later. When Peter saw her fast asleep on her bed, an old photo album in her lap, he sighed. Gently taking the album out of her hands and placing it on her bed side table, Peter went into the wardrobe and took out a blanket to cover her in, kissing her forehead afterwards. When he was sure that he had locked all the doors and windows, he strapped on his backpack, grabbed his skateboard and left through his window.

He covered half of the distance between his and Gwen's respective homes on foot, scanning around the area for any signs of trouble, and when he found none skated the rest of the way. He was careful to avoid the main entrance of the apartment - that doorman _still _intimidated him - and instead walked through a slim alleyway until he found the fire escape that led up to Gwen's room. Tucking the board carefully under his left arm and making sure there was no one looking out their windows, Peter shot a web up to the brick wall just beside Gwen's window and hoisted himself up. Quietly, he landed on the fire escape and before he could peer into the window he noticed a fairly sized basket filled with snacks. On the Oreo pack that stuck out was a note with his name written in Gwen's familiar scrawl.  
Placing his board down on the metal floor of th fire escape, Peter knelt down before the basket and opened the note, surprised to find only a handful of words written in it.

"Dear Peter", he mumbled to himself, "Hope you like it. -Gwen"

Looking into her bedroom, Peter noticed that Gwen wasn't sitting at her usual spot in front of her computer, nor was she in her room for that matter. Sighing, Peter carefully folded the note, put it in the basket and set his backpack down beside it.  
He then jumped off of the fire escape and headed to the one person he never thought he'd ask help from.

It didn't take Peter long to come face to face with the dreaded doorman, but it took a bit of time for him to get the older - not to mention buffer - man's attention.

"Um, excuse me sir?", Peter asked hesitantly.

When the doorman looked his way, the bugboy continued, "Do you know if the Stacy family is home?", he managed.

The doorman only looked at him, diminishing Peter's hopes. However, when Peter was just about to leave, he spoke up, "They should be home soon."

Peter looked back up at the doorman, only to find him in the same position he was in before Peter caught his attention: as still as a statue, like the Queen's Foot Guards - you know, the guys with the red coats and tall black furry bearskin hats? Yeah, like them.

"Thanks", Peter smiled at the doorman and headed back to the fire escape.

No one - but the doorman himself - noticed the smile on the tough looking guard.

_**TASM**_

When the doorman meant soon, he really _did _mean soon. By the time Peter had scaled the fire escape again, and smiled when he - with his spider-senses - sensed the familiar Stacy prescence emanating from the entrance of the apartment complex. His smile soon turned into a full scale grin when he heard the sound of boots running on the floor and laughed lightly when he heard Mrs. Stacy's irritated voice.

"Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy! How _dare _you run in the house with those dirty boots on!", the mother cried.

"Sorry!", Gwen's mirth-filled voice replied.

Peter turned around to face Gwen's room, and when the door opened his smile grew wider (if that was even physically possible considering how wide it already was). Gwen however did not look as happy to see him (much to his confusion). He soon realized though, why the blonde looked more shocked than happy when he saw another heap of blonde hair walk into her room. His spider-senses kicking in, Peter ducked, donned his backpack, gathered the skateboard and the basket and climbed up onto the space above Gwen's window. He tensed when he heard Mrs. Stacy walk closer to the window.

"Was, was someone just there Gwen?", the hero heard her ask.

"Um, why would anyone be there mom?", Gwen countered, hoping that her English teacher's 'answer a question with a question' trick would work.

Fortunately, it did. Mrs. Stacy left the room shortly thereafter, but not without warning Gwen no to walk around the house with her boots on again. When Peter heard the door to Gwen's room close, he jumped off of the wall and landed like a feline back onto the fire escape.

When he turned around, his signature grin returned at the sight of Gwen in the process of opening her window, and leapt into her room like a runaway criminial when she stepped aside.

"Woah, excited are we?", Gwen mused.

Peter grinned and set his backpack and skateboard at the foot of the chair he was well acquainted with and placed the gift basket on the seat. When he turned to face Gwen he found that she was sitting at the foot of her bed, an arm wrapped around the post and a longing gaze directed at him. When she patted her hand on the bed beside her, Peter could only obey.

"Miss me?", he grinned cheekily at Gwen.

"Nah, I think I managed just fine", the blonde replied in a solemn tone, though Peter could see that she was trying not to smile.

"Ouch!", the hero feigned hurt and dramatically brought his hand to his heart, "That really hurt!"

Gwen merely laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. Silence reigned while the two basked in the other's prescence, both not wanting that moment to end. But as a wise man once said, all good things must come to an end.

Even if they came in the form of a moment-ending comment.

"So, do you have my birthday present or are _you _the birthday prese- OW!", Peter yelped when Gwen - 'lightly', as she put it - punched him in the stomach.

"Pfft, you wish", she teased while observing her suddenly-interesting nails.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry", Peter coughed as he looked back up at Gwen - his left hand protectively covering his abdomen - and grinned like an idiot.

"I'm not kissing it better if that's what you want", Gwen muttered at the 'puppy-face' Peter was - successfully, though she dare not admit it - pulling off.

"Nah, just do it here", he wooed and pointed to his lips.

Gwen smirked at him, a sign that told Peter that she had a plan. A cruel plan that would break his very being. However, he was proven wrong when the Stacy leaned in closer to his face...

...and kissed his cheek instead, much to the bugboy's chagrin.

"Aw Gwen that's not fair", he whined.

"Ha, that's all you get for throwing me out of that window at school", she teased again, a triumphant look painted on her features.

"What? That was like...", Peter stopped mid-sentence and murmured to himself before continuing, "A couple of weeks ago?"

"And the memory - and feeling - is still very fresh", Gwen went on, obviously enjoying teasing Peter. It had somewhat become a sentence - more worse than not knowing what that hole in the Chuppa Chups lollipop stick was for, as the hero described it - that Gwen executed whenever she was feeling cheeky.

"I did that to save you!", Peter protested, "Aw come on Gwen."

Gwen laughed and ruffled Peter's already unkept hair, "Just teasing."

"You kill me sometimes, you know that?", Peter informed her, pretending to look hurt. The act, though, didn't last long when he was abruptly kissed by Gwen.

His eyes closed, and he found his right hand holding the back of her head while his left one left his abdomenal duties and placed itself on the small of Gwen's back. Likewise, Gwen shifted both her hands to the back of Peter's neck, her fingers playing around with the strands of his hair.  
When the two stopped for air - much to the hero's dislike - Peter pressed his forehead against Gwen's, staring intently into her eyes and grinning wildly...but the grin left without a trace when he saw the melancholic look on Gwen's face.

"Hey", Peter started and put a hand to her cheek, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Gwen hesitated, "I lost your original gift. That basket was just a back-up."

Peter sighed and shook his head, "It's no big deal Gwen. It's just a gift-"

"No, Peter", Gwen interrupted, "It wasn't _just _a gift. It took me five days to finish the whole thing, and now it's gone." Taking them back from Peter's neck, Gwen proceeded to twiddle her thumbs, "I _really _wanted you to have it."

Peter looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, when an thought popped into his mind. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he lowered his head so that she could hear him better.

"I get that you really wanted me to have that present, and now that you said it took five days for you to finish it _I _really can't wait to see it", he chuckled, and smiled when he heard Gwen laugh a little.

"But Gwen", he began and, putting a finger under her chin, lifted her head so that she faced him, "More than anything, I'd rather have you in my arms and not have the present, than have the present and not have you", he murmured softly.

At that, Gwen smiled genuinely and pressed her forehead against Peter's.

"Who knew that you were so poetic?", Gwen said in pretend-amazement, smiling widely when she heard Peter sigh.

"You're impossible, you know that?", the hero reminded.

"But you still love me", Gwen countered.

"More than you'll ever know", Peter smiled.

He leaned in for another make-out session and was just about to kiss her when-

"Gweeen!", chirped an unmistakable voice.

Without warning, Gwen shoved Peter to the floor with the force of thousand speeding trains just as the door to her room suddenly opened, revealing Mrs. Stacy.

"Gwen, honey, dinner's ready", the older woman sang.

"Okay, uh, I'll be there soon", Gwen managed, "I just have some, uh, stuff, to do. Yeah, some stuff I gotta do, so...", she twiddled her thumbs, all the while staring at her mother.

"Oh, yeah, sorry honey", she apologized after realizing that she was 'interrupting', "Go finish off your homework or whatever you're doing. Sorry to interupt!" And with that, Mrs. Stacy left the scene.

Releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Gwen looked down at Peter who had his arms tucked under his head, perfectly relaxed and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing. Just laughing at how badly you try to tell people that you're doing 'stuff'", at the word 'stuff', Peter made bunny fingers.

"Oh please, like you could do better", Gwen challenged, "Don't tell me that you weren't shocked because I saw the look on your face when she opened that door. You looked like the world found out you were Spiderman."

Peter opened his mouth to object, closed it after a second's thought, then opened it once more.

"You look cute when you twiddle your thumbs", he offered.

Gwen tried not to smile, but failed miserably. Then, she extended her arm to help Peter up, and when he got off of the floor he made a bee-line for Gwen's door. A distinct 'click' was heard, ultimately telling Gwen that she was locked in the room with a giant spider.

"I just realized that I'm now locked in my room with a giant spider", she said aloud.

Peter laughed, "Yeah, a giant spider that you love to bits."

He then leaned down towards his feet, and Gwen scrambled over to the other side of her bed to find that he was undoing his sneakers, with the sudden realization that he had just walked around her room in dirty shoes. Unaware of the mess he had created, Peter jumped onto her bed and sat against the headboard, beckoning her to come closer until they sat in a similar position to the one they were in weeks before when he came in with three gashes on his body. Gwen put a hand to his cheek and smiled fondly at him.

"You know, even if you _do_ find that runaway gift, I'd still say that this is one of the best birthdays I've had all my life", Peter smiled.

"But we hardly did anything. And I pushed you off of my bed", Gwen responded, her thumb caressing Peter's cheek.

"We kissed. And it was pretty comfy on the floor", Peter countered.

"Now who's being impossible."

"I'm serious Gwen", Peter began, "Sure we didn't go to the mall or watch a movie like anyone else would, but I had fun all the same. I got to see you after a long day of work, and I even got a gift basket."

Gwen giggled, "You really had fun?"

"Really", the hero assured, "But you know what will make this night even more fun and make me even more happier?"

"I dread the answer", Gwen fiegned fear.

"A make out session", Peter answered himself.

"Should've known. Oh well", Gwen exhaled and leaned in for a kiss, "Happy birthday, Peter Parker."


End file.
